Manitoba·First PersonFor us, Valour FC had always been a family affair, so it only seemed fitting to share with my wife the news that the team had folded, as we’d long suspected it would. We had already said our goodbyes, grieved, griped and moved on, more than a year ago. ‘We dreamed of rocking our jerseys with pride,’ Paul Turenne says of high hopes for now defunct teamPaul Turenne · for CBC News · Posted: Nov 26, 2025 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 7 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Paul Turenne, left, Justin Turenne, centre, and Samantha Turenne ‘enthusiastically attended the first-ever fan night’ for Winnipeg’s pro soccer team. (Submitted by Paul Turenne)This First Person article is the experience of Paul Turenne, a Winnipegger who’s played and loved the game of soccer for decades. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see this FAQ. You can read more First Person articles here. The first person I texted was my wife, when I learned it had finally become official. For us, Valour FC had always been a family affair, so it only seemed fitting to share with her the news that the team had folded, as we’d long suspected it would. We had already said our goodbyes, grieved, griped and moved on, more than a year ago.Still, it was an official end to something that had already ended unofficially for us, attending soccer games as a family, with a team of our own.Back in 2019, my wife and I were pumped to learn Canada was finally getting a proper national soccer league. We both were — and still are — huge soccer fans. We went to two soccer games during our honeymoon, and actually came pretty close to making Zizou our son’s middle name. We looked forward to match days with hot dogs, popcorn and some good old-fashioned exposure to the beautiful game.- Paul TurenneWhen Valour’s entry into the fledgling Canadian Premier League was announced, we enthusiastically attended the first-ever fan night and bought season tickets in the premium section, right near centre field. (We have the Founding Member scarves and decals to prove it.) My wife, my son and I all have jerseys, hats and scarves, which we wore with pride to every home match. We maintained our season tickets for five years, sitting front row, centre field for most of it. With a season-ticket schedule in hand, we looked forward to match days with hot dogs, popcorn and some good old-fashioned exposure to the beautiful game. But mostly, we looked forward to spending time together as a family, with an activity we could all enjoy.My son was the first to lose interest. He was young at the time, so he gets a long leash there, but still. He enjoyed cheering for goals and calling for red cards, but eventually he grew bored that the opportunities to do so were few and far between. He began bringing books to the games.I stayed enthusiastic the longest. My wife’s keen insight had clued her in before me that this team was going nowhere. The game-day experience was sorely lacking, and there wasn’t enough kids’ merch, quality food or love for the fans for her liking.Ultimately though, it was the losing that sealed the deal for all of us.Valour, from Day 1, was the worst team in the CPL.They never once made the playoffs and put up more home losses than wins in a sport that values home field advantage so much that away goals count for extra in many competitions. Valour scored more than two goals at home only three times since 2021, and they were shut out in 23 of the 81 games they played at Princess Auto Stadium (including an 8-0 thrashing to Calgary the first season).When you’re looking to give a seven-year-old opportunities to cheer, that ain’t it.A crowd of 9,699 fans showed up to watch Valour FC’s home opener against Edmonton FC in 2019. It was a 2-1 loss for the Winnipeg team. (Walther Bernal/CBC)The losing began to cost the team fans, and it seemed every season both the attendance and the product got worse. For all Wade Miller’s laments about soccer fans needing to show up, Valour never gave us a reason to.The team’s attendance problem was, and always had been, due to the lack of quality on the pitch. Or to put it more plainly, the team was no good and no fun to watch. I was a fan from Day 1.- Paul TurenneThe trouble with soccer fans is that they know their sport. They are turned off by a boring, reluctant style of play; they recognize when another team’s players are vastly superior and groan with every absent-minded offside and missed open net. The local soccer community was behind this team at the beginning, but lost interest as the losses piled up.A team can’t keep losing games, losing fans and losing money forever. Something will eventually give.Fed up with the whole scene, we dropped our tickets after the 2023 season, and no one even called us. This is not to hate on our local 11. I was a fan from Day 1. In fact, it’s a darn shame. It all started with a clean slate in 2019. Teams that started off on equal footing with Valour, like Forge and Cavalry, have gone on to play in Concacaf Champions League against teams from Mexico and the U.S. and gone deep in the Canadian championships.This is what we dreamed of for Valour. We dreamed of rocking our jerseys with pride, of players who shined bright and brought us moments of delight, and of singing songs of glory, always together as a family.This is my lament for what might have been.ABOUT THE AUTHORPaul Turenne has been playing soccer for more than 40 years and watching it for nearly as long. He lives in Winnipeg with his wife and son.
I was a Valour FC superfan from the start. Now I lament for what might have been
